ISH2SUP
(245294)
Aarne Halme
Aalto university
Project & partnership
In situ H2 supply technology for micro fuel cells
Duration: 2010-2012
Budget: 1.7 M€
Funding: European Commission FCH JU, Partners
Partners: Aalto University (FI), CEA (FR), Hydrocell (FI), myFC(SE)
Contact information:
Coordinator Professor Aarne Halme (aarne.halme@aalto.fi)
D.Sc. Anja Ranta (anja.ranta@aalto.fi), Aalto University
Motivation
• Market pull for mobile and portable fuel cell based power sources
- Power gap of many mobile electronics devices, like laptops, smart phones,
cameras, etc. in spite of improvements in Li-technology.
- Light mobile power for outdoor activities
- Emerging markets with poor availabilty of grid or no grid especially in
developing countries
• Most of the existing products and on-going developments are based on
PEM technology, either DMFC or H2-PEM
• H2-PEM would be preferred over DMFC provided hydrogen would be
easily, safely and sufficiently available in situ.
-> There is a need of easy to use and logistically feasible fueling
technologies to make hydrogen really mobile.
Goals
•
•
•
•
•
Development of controllable new type of hydrogen production units (called
fuel cartridges), which utilize sodium borohydride (NaBH4) or methanol as the
primary fuel .
Integration of the fuel cartridge and a micro fuel cell unit
Prove feasibility of the concepts taking into account the safety regulations
Test case applications
- 5 W mobile hand-held phone charger of 5 h operation time (per one
cartridge)
-10 W portable power source (use extender) for Laptop non-grid usage
Envisioned application area: fuelling devices providing hydrogen gas in-situ
and on-demand to a fuel cell power unit acting as a charger/use extender for
laptops, smart phones, internet cameras etc in non-grid environments.
Main principle
fuel
ISH2SUP- concept: a micro hybride power
system for non-grid environment
Approaches
• The targeted power range is 5 – 20 W. In this range there are many
electronic appliances for mobile use, like phones, laptops, cameras, etc
• In many of the applications the fuelling cartridge is intended to be used in
the connection with a use extender rather than with a battery charger,
which means that the power needed is lower than the device’s charger
power.
Two principles:
• Production of hydrogen gas from a primary fuel
– Methanol
– Sodium borohydride
• Conversion of the generated hydrogen to electricity by a micro PEM fuel
cell
- in the case of methanol conversion the energy needed (0,7-1Wh/lH2) is
provided by the fuell cell making the reformation autonomous.
Overall approach
Fuel technology
MeOH
electrolyser
Chemical
hydride
Fuel cartridge
Logistic, delivery and safety
Fuel cell
Components integration and demonstrator
Performances comparison
Energy density Wh/kg
Market requirements (safety, usage, cost)
Power
management
Acomplishements vs State of the Art
• Portable fuel cell power sources for electronics have
been developed actively during last 10-15 years.
• Most of the developments are based on DMFC
technology. Only few commercial success this far,
however.
• Use of H2-PEM technology is limited because of limited
hydrogen portability.
• ISH2SUP-project is targeted to improve this situation
by developing and testing two less studied
technologies to generate hydrogen in-situ from
hydrogen rich sources in low temperature.
Electrolyser
•
•
•
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Releasing hydrogen from MeOH in water
solution needs only 0.7-1 Wh/l H2
electrolysis energy (Pt catalyst, 0.3-0.4
V)
When burning in a PEM cell the released
hydrogen can compensate the needed
electrolysis energy + provide additional
energy for application.
In optimal conditions up to 50% of the
fuel cell output can be directed to the
application load.
Electrolysis can be run in higher MeOH
concentrations (tested up to 32%) than
what can be used in DMFC without risk
of CO poisoning.
NaBH4 cartridge
Designation
Functioning pressure drop (mbar)
Hydrogen flow(ml/min)
Energy (Wh)
Time to start (min)
Hydrogen volume (l)
Cartridge Weight (g)
Cartridge Volume (ml)
Ranging temperature (°
C)
Storage temperature (°
C)
Time life before activation (year)
Range
Remarks
50 - 600
0 - 90
23
<1
17
120
110
5-40
>1
2
Depending on fuel cell yield
For 5°
C< T < 45 °
C
Measured at 20 °
C
-
Prototypes
10 W electrolyser based power unit is
made from scratch. Output 12 V
MeOH
Electrolyser stack
Fuel cell
Electronics
NaBH4 based 5 W charger is done by
modifying an existing product of MyFC
Aligment to MAIP/AIP
• ISH2SUP –project belongs to “Early Market” Application area
• Project concrete goals are set to demonstrate and evaluate possible
product prototypes already during the project time.
• The companies involved are interested to integrate the results in their
products or develop a new product. Other interested companies are
welcome to discuss about utilization of the results.
• Any products ready to markets cannot, however, be reached during the
project. The earliest time to enter to markets is year 2014.
Expected results
• Prototype 25 Wh NaBH4-cartridge for a mobile phone 5W charger (CEA,
MyFC). Energy density (electrical) about 208 Wh/kg (LiFePO4 battery
110-120 Wh/kg).
• Electrolyser -fuel cell system prototype for a non-grid long term power
source for 10 W devices e.g a labtop ( Aalto, Hydrocell). Wh/kg density of
the system depends on the fuel tank size. 200 ml 32% MeOH-water
solution stores 320 - 400Wh/kg (electrical).
• Integrated electrolyser-PEM fuel cell stack system prototype comparable
to DMFC with better Wh/ml MeOH conversion (Aalto).
• Control electronics for both of the fuelling concepts.
Cross-cutting issues
• WP4 in the project is devoted to the safety issues, regulations and
standards related to the logistics and usage.
• The project include a special activity (dissemination manager) to
disseminate results both scientifically and publicly to demonstrate people
new possibilities to operate electronic devices in non-grid environment.
• Public information: presentations in seminars, 2 MSc thesis, 2 journal
publications (under preparation), 1 patent application
Enhancing cooperation and
future perspectives
Technology transfer:
• The research partners CEA and Aalto both have a national/in-house
project in the same area including other partners than those participating
ISH2SUP.
• Company partners myFC and Hydrocell are currently developing products
which are directly connected to the RTD-work in ISH2SUP project.
• Technology transfer is regulated by the Consortium Agreement
Further perspectives
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•
The project is estimated to be delayed 3-4 months due to manpower shortage and some
technical difficulties.
The project DoW included a contingency plan concerning possible problems to get the
enzyme catalyst work properly (with low enough energy). The plan had to be realized.
Printable electrolysers are now developed using Pt catalyst to demonstrate one to use
cartridge.
•
Both of the concepts studied are not limited to the power range 5-20 W. Preliminary
feasibility study to enlarge the area to 100 W – 1kW will be done during the project. This will
open applications e.g. to portable tools, small backboard motors etc.
•
Electrolysis by the aid of bio-catalyst may open up interesting possibility to produce
hydrogen from different kind of bio-decomposable wastes including alcohols or sugars. The
energy level around 3 W/l H2 may be obtain, which is considerable less than in water
electrolysis. At the same time COD-value of the waste can be decreased. This is one way to
continue the study made in the project with bio-catalyst.